Nokia launches 6700 and 6303 Classic phones

Mobile phone major Nokia announced its association with Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra for the endorsement of its products in the Indian market. The firm would run a new campaign, “Pictures get us talking” with her in print as well as digital mediums.

The company also launched two new handset models in the occasion. The newly launched Nokia 6700 Classic and Nokia 6303 Classic models will be part of Nokia's imaging portfolio range of handsets.

The Nokia 6700 has a 5 mega pixel camera with autofocus and flash, uplink noise cancellation, 2.2” QVCA display and 170 MB internal memory and is priced at Rs 14,000. The Nokia 6303 Classic priced at Rs 8,000 and features a 3.2 mega pixel camera with 8x digital zoom and comes preloaded with Nokia Maps. It is available in steel and matt black colours.

Airtel to offer exclusive Harry Potter content

Country's leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel has bagged exclusive rights to offer content related to Harry Potter and the much hyped movie, Half Blood Prince. Warner Bros has given this exclusive rights to Bharti under which subscribers will be offered content such as games, wallpapers, ring-tones and themes.

Subscribers can download the Harry Potter games at Rs 50 and wallpapers, animations and ring-tones for Rs 15 each.

At present Airtel offers 12 Harry Potter wallpapers and animations, and 14 ring-tones based on the movie soundtrack through its website.

BSNL launches online entertainment store

State-run telecom firm BSNL announced the availability of its online entertainment store for its customers. The online store contains music, music videos, movies and games from where BSNL users can purchase the desired items.

The operator has also tied up with VAS content player, Hungama to launch the online digital entrainment store.

BSNL.Hungama.com offering the PSU’s broadband subscribers to download unlimited music and videos for a monthly rental of Rs 149.

Furthermore, gaming content will also be available for download for a per month rent of Rs 49.

At present the store contains more than 65,000 songs and 2,000 music videos as well as over 200 games.

Budget 2009-10: Mobile Phones become cheaper

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has mentioned to reduce the customs duty on various items including mobile phones. This would result in the availability of mobile phone at a cheaper rate than the current rate.

This was announced by the Finance Minister while he presented the Union Budget for the year 2009-10 in parliament today.

India is adding more than 10 million mobile subscribers per month means the country witnesses a sale of more than 120 million mobile phones a year. The reduction of customs duty on mobile phones would make mobile phone more affordable and it is expected to help grow the industry in much faster pace.

The minister has reduced customs duty on various items like LCD TVs, mobile phones, certain life-saving drugs, branded jewelleries, sports and leather goods, packaged software and footwears.

Budget 2009-10 : Telecom wishlist

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is going to present the budget for the year 2009-10 and Indian telecom industry has put a high hope on it.

Among the most awaited or most anticipated announcements, the industry expects the budget will mention the listing of state-run telecom operator BSNL. In the past the telecom minister as well as the management of BSNL has mentioned the idea of diluting 10 percent of its stake.

However, objections from the employees union of BSNL has so far not allowed the govt to take a bold step in this regard.

The telecom industry also expects the budget will mention about the expected revenue realisation from the 3G spectrum auction. The government expects a revenue of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 crore from the auction. Its mention in the budget is expected to speed up the auction process as the country is desparately waiting the 3G services to be made available to consumers.

Among other expectations, the telecom industry has sought rationalistion of multiple taxes and duties imposed on the sector in the Budget.

GSM operatos lobbying body Cellular Operators Association of India expects longer tax break for the telecom industry at par with the infrastructure industry which would further bolster the growth of the telecom industry. COAI expects a tax break of 20 years with 10 years of 100 percent tax exempation for first 10 years.

Currently, a telecom operator is entitled to a 100 per cent tax break for 5 years, followed by a 30 per cent relief on profit for the next 5 years during the initial 15 years when commercial operations start.

The association also has sought a uniform license fee of one per cent of adjusted gross revenue, excluding universal service obligation fees, across all segments of telecom. At present, operators levy 6-10 per cent of the AGR as licence fee depending on the circle.

Samsung launches waterproof mobile phone

Samsung Mobile today launched a waterproof mobile phone in the Indian market at a price of Rs 7030.

The phone codenamed 'Marine' has dust protection and water protection (under up to 1 meter of water for 30 minutes). ‘Samsung Marine’ is adaptable for even the toughest environment – including rain, fog, humidity, sand and extremely hot and cold temperatures, etc. – and is tested under specifications defined by the US Department of Defence with Military Standard 810F (MIL-STD-810F).

The ‘Samsung Marine’ is also equipped with loud external speakers, noise cancellation and a flash light. The Marine (B2100) comes with an on-board memory of 6MB which can be expanded to 8 GB.

It also features a 1.3 mega pixel camera, FM radio, camcorder and a music player.

Mobile phones might get costlier in Maharashtra

The government of Maharashtra has increased the Value Added Tax (VAT) on mobile phones from 4% to 12.5%. What it means is you have to pay more for a mobile phone in Maharashtra compared to your fellow buyers in other states in the country.

Major mobile companies like Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and others have raised concerns on this as the increase in VAT might distract customers from buying a phone, or they might prefer to use their old phones for a longer period of time. It could also encourage the grey market.

According to industry estimates, around a million handsets are sold each month in Maharashtra which means a sales turnover of Rs 300 crore at an average selling price of 3,000 per unit. With the proposed hike of 8.5%, the state government expects its monthly VAT revenues to increase to Rs 36 crore from the current level of Rs 12 crore.

Many mobile manufacturers as well as retailers in the state have started protesting against the decision.

LG KM335 Review

The phone has a standard candy bar form factor and measures 108.2x47.2x14.8 mm and weighs 84 gm. Its comparatively small in size and quite fits into one's hand. At first look the LG KM335 looks compact, its champagne gold color with red border gives it some sort of sophistication. Its metal-like finish gives a sturdy impression. Undoubtedly, you would love it from its overall looks.

The phone features a 3.0 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash. But somehow the camera will not give a big kick as it scores less if you compare its camera with 3 megapixel cameras found in other mobile manufacturers, to be more precise, with Motorola or Sony Ericsson. However you get the option to adjust the resolution, the quality level and other technical things. TheKM335 also features a video camera that records at 15 FPS.

As typical to LG phones, display is very good, a bit smaller though. But LG needs to work a lot on its display pertaining to its poor visibility under direct sun. The phone provides some sort of blinking lights when the phone rings or when you make call. However, this kind of alert light was never been appreciated by users. In my money, it gives an unnecessary cheap look to its otherwise sophisticated looks.

When it comes to the UI, we are not very satisfied as its speed can make or break a deal. If its slow then it downplays all other features that you boast about. Users want their device to be their slave. It should obey their master as and when demanded. The KM335's UI seems to be slow, I guess its one big issue that LG needs to address ASAP. After all, in the jet age bullock cartstake you no where.

Due to its slow UI, the messaging is a pain. It does not respond the way you want. From connectivity point of view, again its a downer as LG incorporated Bluetooth version 1.2 instead of v2.0, which is the norm now. The phone however supports GPRS and EDGE.
But the biggest downer is its music player. This is because at the time of launch, LG projected the KM335 and GM200 as music phones, the later incorporating Dolby Music technology into a mobile phone. Its music player seems to be in a mess. You can not store the music in a separate category and it has to be stored in the sounds folder toenable the device to playe it. On top of it, you can not navigate between different sound tracks.

With the features and some drawbacks with the KM335, the price tag of close to Rs 9,000 seems unjustified. There are much better products available in the market in the same price band where you can get better music player and better camera phones. It seems like the Korean giant is in a hurry to increase its product portfolio in the Indian market without putting much effort to bring some really quality products.

LG GM200 Review

There was no dearth of music centric mobile phones in the market and a new phone with similar features is always considered as 'one more' in the crowd. But LG's latest music phone is pretty different and definitely deserves a different treatment.

The difference lies in its sound system. For the first time any mobile company has come out with Dolby sound system and LG has incorporated this technology on to its GM200. The sound quality of the LG GM200 is awsome and pretty loud. Among many handsets taht I've reviewd so far, I didn't find any other mobile phone matching the decibel level that our GM200 is throwing at you. And there is no distortion of sound quality with even full volume.

The GM200’s FM radio was another pleasant surprise. It might take few seconds more than the average to find and store the available FM channels but once stored the phone gives you a one-place channel finder, means, unlike other mobile phones in this price range, where you only navigate the channels in one way, here it is multiway. What it means exactly is, you can see all the available channels on the display and you have the option to go to the exact channel you are looking for. But the radio reception is pretty poor. LG has scored very good marks in this field even in its pretty low-end phones. You can also record from the radio and what’s even better is the ‘Intenna’ that allows you to switch on the radio sans a handsfree or earphones.

The formfactor of the GM200 is not very appealing, rather average. It has a 2.0-inch TFT LCD that sports a 176 x 220 pixel resolution (256k colors) and a large multi-language keypad with a five way navigation pad.

The phone comes with a standard 3.5mm earphone socket, a 2 megapixel camera and a 2.1-inch subwoofer. The presence of the subwoofer makes the GM200 capable of providing users with a 2.1 channel audio feel.

The GM200 user interface is astonishingly slow. You wouldn't find a slower machine in this category in the market at the current era. Keying in characters while SMSing is a pain. The fastest SMSer would do the most number wrong entries in the SMS, if he uses the GM200.

Looking at the battery, its better than the average phones. On a single charge I was able to use the GM200 for close to full three days. The usage included music, a little video, a lot of messages and quite a lot of talk time as well. With just talk time, on a average it ran up to about five hours.

Among other features a voice recorder has been provided and the reception quality of the microphone is quite decent, infact calls for a recommendation.

The handset’s EDGE/GPRS and WAP capabilities can be used for internet access and downloading emails as the GM200 supports IMAP and POP accounts. However, given a chance I'd not like to access the Internet with this phone because of its slow UI. Other modes of connectivity include Stereo Bluetooth and of course USB 2.0.

Priced at Rs 8,500, its a standard phone but if music and sound ..err volume is what drives you, then GM200 is here for you.

Nokia N97 now available in India

Nokia's much awaited smartphone, the N97 has hit the mobile shops acroos the country. Nokia India today announced the availability of the N97 across retail outlets in the country .

The mobile maker has also tied up with HDFC and Citibank to offer 3 month EMI option at 0% interest rate in select cities to facilitate customers to purchase the phone.

Also, Vodafone customers who are buying N97 will be offered free data plan for three months. Additionally, Vodafone subscribers also stand to win exclusive access to ’The Groove’ lifestyle widget.

The company is betting big on the handset and is aggressively marketing the model.
The Nokia N97 is priced at Rs 34,000.

HTC brings India its first Android phone--HTC Magic

HTC Corp launched its Android powered mobile phone 'HTC Magic' in India. This is the first mobile phone to be introduced in India that runs on Google's Android OS.

Simultaneously, the Taiwanese company forged partnership with Airtel for the distribution of the handset. This partnership also enables 'Magic' users to download variety of applications like Portfolio manager, weather channel, Hello Tune manager, MobShare from Airtel.

This 3G phone comes with s 3.2 inch HVGA touchscreen interface and equipped with a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera.

The company also incorporated a trackball for navigation which doubles up for 'Enter' purpose as well.

The HTC Magic will be available in India in all the Airtel retail stores for Rs 29,900.

Shortly, we'll bring you the exclusive review of it. Watch out for this space.

Motorola AURA Review

In March this year telecom biggie Motorola launched a new phone, Motorola AURA, in the Indian market which created a lot of hype. Every mobile manufacturer launches new phones round the year, so whats new about it?

Yes, there are a lot of 'new' with this launch. First, at a time when the entire world is reeling under global economic meltdown, Motorola's new phone is priced at a whooping Rs 1,11,492. Second, it has a circular display, third, its display screen is made up of Sapphire. I can add couple of more 'New' things about this Moto marvel.

Since its launch the phone has been reviewd by many experts around the globe. Most of them brought a mixed picture of the AURA, saying this a high-priced low-tech phone and it doesn't deserve a price tag of one grand. However I'd beg to differ.

I agree the AURA is low at features. But, don't you think, while reviewing a product, shouldn't we look at the objective of the product at the first place, rather than finding a hole?

The Motorola AURA is not meant to be feature rich, its meant for beauty, elegance and luxury. Period.And I admire beauty. This is AURA in its natural form.

And, on this criteria, it remains unrivaled. Its a super luxury phone. Inspired by luxury watches, the phone uses cog and wheel mechanism to flip. Motorola claims the AURA uses a Swiss-made main bearing and apparently more than 200 parts are involved in the opening mechanism, including 130 ball bearings. And its quite an enjoyable experience.

The much hyped circular diplay is another treat. The circular display is a 'first' to mobile phones. Many experts have compared it to Motorola's own V70 and Toshiba's G450 which also have circular displays features. But mind you, these phones don't have circular displays, they have rectangular displays under a circular glass frame. In the case of AURA, the display is truly circular. And the icing on the cake is, the display scrren is made up of Grade 1, 62 carat Sapphire crystal, which Motorola claims to be one of the most scratch-resistant materials available.

And yet, the Motorola AURA isn't just a pretty face. You could argue that its defiant lack of the latest features means it's also unlikely to date quite as quickly as all those me-too handsets that you feel you need to replace six months down the line. The AURA has an air of permanence that is rarely encountered in the mobile phone world.

It has a 40mm diameter, with 480x480 pixels, 16 million colours and 300dpi. The other justification for the sky-high cost is the casing; stainless steel with a hand-engraved design motif which apparently takes almost two weeks to sculpt, etch and polish. All the materials are apparently top-notch, including hardened steel gears (for the swivel opening mechanism) and nickel-chrome plated screws. Detail around the sides is kept to a minimum, with just a volume rocker, mini USB socket and twin clip buttons for the back panel to break the smooth flow. It certainly looks and feels like a classy handset.

The swivel action to access the keypad is, as promised, very smooth. A gentle push with the thumb sets the internal cogs a-whirring and it flicks round to the left and into the six o'clock position. You can even see part of the swivel mechanism through a window on the back panel, which adds to that classy watch effect.

The keypad is of the flush aluminium type familiar from the RAZR series which looks good but isn't particularly easy to use. There's a circular D-pad just below the screen but it's only four-way sensitive, and you can't press it to access functions. For that you'll need the OK button next to it, which takes a bit of getting used to, and there's also a back button, call start and stop and two soft keys.

With the attention to detail and fine workmanship that Motorola claims to have put into the AURA, you'd have thought they could have included a better camera. We weren't expecting a high-powered snapper, but two megapixels seems a bit puny even on midrange handsets these days, let alone a supposedly thoroughbred beast like this. But the quality of the camera, I suppose, is better than other 2mp camera phones available in the market.

The lack of flash limits your options, as does the absence of autofocus but the one thing the camera has in its favour is that circular screen. With the camera on (and you needn't be in too much of a rush about it – there's no dedicated shutter button so you'll have to dig into the menu for it) the circular screen becomes a viewfinder, and it looks stare-over-somebody's-shoulder marvellous.

It has a 4x zoom, offers up to 1600x1200 resolution and yes, the pics are rectangular, though if you choose one as a wallpaper, it's resized to fit the round screen. You can crop, resize and rotate your pics, plus there's a multi shot option offering four, six or eight pics. Video is particularly poor however, offering just 176x144 resolution.

The music player is a basic one, though it will play most of the main formats: AAC, AAC+, enhanced AAC+, MIDI, MP3, WAV and WMA. The sound is surprisingly good through Motorola's rather chunky headphones, which is just as well, since without a 3.5mm jack plug you're probably stuck with them. There's 2GB of memory on board, which isn't bad, but there's no memory card option to top it up.

With no 3G connection you're stuck with WAP for web access, which will translate for most people as 'don't bother with web access'.

For extras, there's a calculator, an alarm clock, voice recorder and a few basic games (sudoku, backgammon, slot machine – that sort of thing), though with Java on board you can download others if you feel the need.

The Motorola AURA is a very basic handset beneath the bling, but Motorola knows an important truth – if you make a device desirable enough, people will buy it, regardless of price or additional extras. Do Patek Philippe chronographs measure your heart rate, connect to the internet or play music? No, they tell the time. The Motorola AURA is a phone, it makes calls, and not a lot else. But it does it with an impressive amount of style.